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Shaun White (right) acknowledges the crowd as gold medalist Iouri Podladtchikov of Switzerland (left) looks on after the men's halfpipe snowboarding final at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games on Feb. 11, 2014.
KRASNAYA POLYANA, Russia -- Maybe it was all too much. Or maybe just one of those bad nights. That debate will last a long time.
Shaun White stood at the top of the Olympic halfpipe Tuesday night, hunched over, hands resting above his knees. He high-fived his coach, clapped his hands, then jumped in for a ride that would decide if all the calculated choices he had made over a winter full of injuries, distractions and angst would pay off.
One jump, 15 feet above the pipe, was perfect. The second one looked good, too.
Then, the trick they call the "Yolo" -- the one a rival invented but White had turned into his own.
His snowboard skittered across the halfpipe on the landing. White finished the run with a flourish and raised his index finger, trying to woo the judges who know, as well as anyone, what he's done for his sport.
No sale. No medal, either. He finished fourth.
The world's best-known, most-successful and best-marketed snowboarder lost to a man they call the "I-Pod," and now, he may never hear the end of it.
"I would definitely say that tonight was just one of those nights," White said after falling to Iouri Podladtchikov, the 25-year-old Russian-born inventor of the `Yolo.' "The tricks I learned getting ready for the competition will carry on for a couple years in this sport. It's a bummer. I had one of those nights."
The Japanese pair of 15-year-old Ayumu Hirano and 18-year-old Taku Hiraoka won silver and bronze, and the Americans were shut out on the halfpipe for the first time since the sport was introduced to the Olympics in 1998.
Almost unthinkable, especially since White joined the mix and won the first of his two gold medals in 2006.
He wanted to win two this year -- one in halfpipe and one in the newly introduced sport of slopestyle -- but ended up with none.
"In hindsight, maybe it wasn't the best move, but he's ambitious," said Jake Burton, the snowboarding guru and one of White's very first sponsors. "That's him. You wouldn't want to see him trade that in for anything."
There's more than one trendsetter in snowboarding, more than one person who likes to "progress the sport," as they say on the halfpipe.
The effervescent Podladtchikov, who now lives in and competes for Switzerland, thought up the Yolo trick first and landed it first. White watched the replay of I-Pod doing it last March in an event in Europe and immediately saw what he needed to do.
Very quickly, he did it better than Podladtchikov and landed it twice in key events leading up to the Olympics. I-Pod tried it three times at the Winter X Games last month and fell all three times. "Practice," he called it.
Those falls, and a hundred other reasons, are why White came into these games the heavy favorite to become only the seventh person to win three straight Olympic golds in an individual winter event.
"I saw videos of Shaun doing it really well," Podladtchikov said. "I got bummed. I said, `Damn, that's my trick and he's doing it better than me. I guess I was doing it a little better tonight."
The Yolo -- You Only Live Once -- includes a total of 1440 degrees of spin. It's two head-over-heels flips and two 360-degree turns. Four years ago, it was unthinkable, but not anymore.
Well, maybe not so easy on this halfpipe.
It was sloppy, slushy and full of problems all week. Virtually nobody got a decent practice session in.
Thanks to a trip down the mountain from the crew that grooms the Alpine course, conditions improved. One of the supposed flaws of the pipe -- too vertical on the sides -- helped Podladtchikov keep the speed he needed to do the Yolo.
He landed it, and even though he only threw five tricks, when most riders were trying six, the judges liked what they saw.
As did Podladtchikov , who spiked his snowboard into the ground and threw his goggles into the crowd. He scored a 94.75.
"He's incredible," American Danny Davis, the 10th-place finisher. "That run on that halfpipe. Wow."
White had come to Russia after a wild winter he spent trying to qualify in two events. He hurt his ankle and shoulder on the way, and changed his schedule on the fly and frequently. The biggest switch-up came when he pulled out of the Olympics' inaugural slopestyle contest the day before qualifiers, saying he didn't want to risk injury there for his historic quest on the halfpipe.
And so, the stakes were set.
Riders all get two chances, and their best score counts.
On White's first run, his attempt at the Yolo ended with a fall that left him sliding down the halfpipe on his backside. Further down the pipe, he tried to finish with another of his double-cork tricks. His board slammed and bent on the lip of the pipe, followed by an awkward and painful fall onto his rear. He was in 11th place after one round.
I-Pod's second run put huge pressure on White. His final runs at the last two Olympics have been nothing more than stress-free victory rides.
Away he went.
On the Yolo, he tucked his hands together to generate torque, then waved one like a cowboy riding a bucking bronco. The form looked good during his three seconds in the air. The landing ended his chances, and whatever small chance he had of winning a wrong-colored medal were wiped away when his knees buckled and nearly hit the snow on the final jump.
When the fourth-place score, a 90.25, came up, he broke into a knowing smile. He gave Podladtchikov a big hug and fatherly mussed his hair. He told him he was happy for him. But the champion had only himself to blame.
"I had a specific run I wanted to land and I didn't put it down," White said. "It's one of the most frustrating things for me. If I land my run and I'm beaten, I'm OK with that. I didn't get that chance tonight, and it happens."


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subset: commoncrawl


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Home > Key Chain Holders with Magnets > Bubinga "Hans & Bodil" (KR458) Series Key Chain Holder
Bubinga "Hans & Bodil" (KR458) Series Key Chain Holder
$ 55.00
The Key Chain Holders are equipped with very strong magnets that hold key rings as well as a handful of other metal items. (ie. bottle openers, metal pens, wine corkscrew, scissors, sewing needles, etc.) Keys themselves are not magnetic; however, key rings are magnetic and the magnets hold a surprising amount of weight.
Approx. dimensions:
5 Magnet: 9 1/2" x 3 1/2" x 1/2" thick
4 Magnet: 7 1/2" x 3 1/4" x 1/2" thick
3 Magnet: 5 1/2" x 3 1/4" x 1/2" thick
All of our photographs are STOCK PHOTOS. Actual colors, grains, & patterns vary.
See our FAQs page for more detailed info.
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text:
Review: Allen casts a limp spell in 'Magic'
- Rated R for "a brief suggestive comment, and smoking throughout"
- Running time: 100 minutes
- Two and a half stars out of four
Woody Allen's late period has been defined by a quality you wouldn't have expected from the man who produced the inspired chaos of "Bananas" or the Fellini-esque carnival of "Stardust Memories": tidiness.
For years now, Allen's films have been light farces ("Midnight in Paris," ''Vicky Cristina Barcelona") or neatly structured parables ("Match Point," ''Blue Jasmine"). They breeze in innocuously in the summer, promising pleasant entertainment and not much more.
"Like drinking lemonade" is how Allen has described his escapist aims for his movies. His "Magic in the Moonlight," a romantic comedy bathed in the sunset glow of the French Riviera and starring two of the more effervescent faces in movies — Colin Firth and Emma Stone — is, no doubt, sweetly sugary — if ultimately flat — stuff.
The film begins in 1928 Berlin with the chaotic backstage life of a haughty, grouchy Chinese illusionist, Wei Ling Soo, played by the magician Stanley Crawford (Firth). It's a promising start: Here is Firth, in regal, oriental garb and long mustache, disparaging autographs as "for mental defectives."
More of this, and "Magic in the Moonlight" could have been a very funny movie. But Wei Ling Soo doesn't again perform, and instead the rest of the film feels oddly missing the jokes it seems built to convey. Crawford — a self-described "rational man" who believes in his art, not in actual magic — sets off to the South of France to unmask a medium, Sophie Baker (Stone), gaining renown for her prescient "mental impressions."
They meet at the sumptuous Cote d'Azur home of the Catledge family, whose rich bachelor Brice (Hamish Linklater) swoons unapologetically for Sophie. A dance of distrust begins between the cocksure Crawford and the lithe, charming Sophie across a vivid, widescreen backdrop of cars, clothes and coastline.
Crawford, whose fiancee hasn't joined him on the trip, is both supremely confident in his realistic worldview (Nietzsche, he says, resolved "the God problem rather convincingly") and abundantly unhappy. Audiences will surely see where the film is going as it sets up a quite rigidly explored dichotomy between blithe believing and scientific certainty.
It's an argument for illusion in our lives, no matter how fraudulent; for love, no matter how illogical. "Magic in the Moonlight" is a disbeliever's earnest plea to believe.
These are, of course, ideas Allen has long explored, and "Magic in the Moonlight" often feels like the kind of tidy New Yorker humor story the filmmaker might pen. Even with bright performances and lively chemistry between Stone and Firth, the movie is stale with the fixed rhythm of the written word, not alive to its images, despite the rich setting. (A quick aside: Is it possible to not have good on-screen chemistry with Stone? From Ryan Gosling to Spider-Man, she bewitches everyone.)
Allen is in complete control of the film, both its comic pacing and its philosophical quandary. But perhaps that's the problem: Like Crawford, "Magic in the Moonlight" needs to be less in control of itself. The film doesn't believe in magic enough.


text:
Rule #1 - Be Patient - Rule #2 - Don't ask when, if you don't contribute - Rule #3 - You have coding skills - LinuxMCE's small brother is available: http://www.agocontrol.com
RAMDISK compressed image found at block 0crc errorVFS: cannot open root device or "nfs" or unknown - block (0,255)Please append a correct (root=) boot optionkernel panic - not syncing : VFS : unable to mount root fs on unknown -block (0,255)Can anyone tell me how to solve this?Do I need to change some root= option? Where ? How?
please help....
Quote from: "MikeyMike"please help....We saw this problem with some systems when installing .42 - but not with any of the .43 daily builds.Now that .43 has been released it is worth trying that. If you have more problems i would contact Pluto support and ask them to login remotely to your system and take a look at the problem for you.Best of luck.Andrew
I also bought a Asus M2NPV-VM motherboard and put it in a Antec Fusion case for use as an MD.
Tried the new version, same error.I also tried my laptop (IBM T42) to see if that works, it boots untill it gives the message something like "announced ourselves at the router, use orbiter to continue". This seems to be more promissing, only I don't have an orbiter :cry: I will look at some log files created when trying to boot my intended MD pc this evening, maybe it's a hardware problem.QuoteI also bought a Asus M2NPV-VM motherboard and put it in a Antec Fusion case for use as an MD.Mikael, what kind of CPU are you using, I use AMD X2 4200+, could that be the problem? I don't use any other hardware in my MD yet, just the motherboard.
Some more details of the work progress with the ASUS MB;1) Digtal sound working ok (coax), DTS not ok otherwise good
It might be worth installing the smp kernel on your dual core processor machine. I would also suggest that you setup your core as a Hybrid Core so that you have the option to use it as an MD... even if that is only in emergency situations.


text:
Electronic edition compiled and proof-read by Margaret Lantry
Funded by University College, Cork
2. Second draft.
Extent of text: 1015 words
Distributed by CELT online at University College, Cork, Ireland.
Text ID Number: E850003-103
Availability [RESTRICTED]
Available with prior consent of the CELT programme for purposes of academic research and teaching only.
There is not as yet an authoritative edition of Wilde's works.
CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts
All the editorial text with the corrections of the editor has been retained.
Text has been checked, proof-read and parsed using SGMLS.
The electronic text represents the edited text. Compound words have not been hyphenated after CELT practice.
The editorial practice of the hard-copy editor has been retained.
div0=the whole text.
Names of persons (given names), and places are not tagged. Terms for cultural and social roles are not tagged.
The n attribute of each text in this corpus carries a unique identifying number for the whole text.
The title of the text is held as the first head element within each text.
div0 is reserved for the text (whether in one volume or many).
Created: By Oscar Wilde (1854-1900). (1881)
Beatrix Färber (ed.)
Beatrix Färber (ed.)
Julianne Nyhan (ed.)
Peter Flynn (conversion)
Margaret Lantry (ed.)
Margaret Lantry (ed.)
Margaret Lantry (ed.)
Margaret Lantry (ed.)


text:
Asalaam alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu.
Here you will find notes from classes which have been taken by sisters and generously shared with us. May Allah endlessly reward them.
Please note that these are not 'official' notes as they have not been formally edited by the speakers themselves.
Please inform me of any errors that you may find and may Allah forgive us for any we may make.
NOTES LIBRARYTo look at notes from past classes please click on 'Categories' and choose your subject or use the search facility.
Join 532 other subscribers
Hajj and Dhul Hijjah 2022. The Most beloved Days to Allah.
This entry was posted in Dhul Hijjah, Hajj and Dhul Hijjah 2022. Bookmark the permalink.


text:
Secretary of state issues Super Bowl drunken driver warning
Staff Writer
Star Courier
State officials are warning drivers that Super Bowl Sunday can be one of the most deadly days of the year in Illinois when it comes to alcohol-related traffic deaths.
Last year, according to the Illinois Department of Transportation, four people were killed in crashes during Super Bowl weekend. Three of those crashes were alcohol-related.
Secretary of State Jesse White is reminding people to enjoy the weekend safely and use designated drivers if attending parties that include alcohol.
White says that means "designating a sober driver, taking a cab or bus, or staying where you are."


text:
Price: $ 1,000.00 USD..
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As an option you may also pay for Lee Bogle Eternal Soul Mates Hand Enhanced
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For Military APO/FPO orders please use our standard checkout. For International Delivery, please click on the International Shipping Icon to see the landed cost to your country. No Sales Tax Except In The State Of Florida.
Eternal Soul Mates Hand Enhanced by Lee Bogle is signed by the artist and comes with a certificate of authenticity.
image Copyright © 2023 by Lee Bogle
Lee Bogle can't remember when he wasn't an artist. Drawing, painting, and picturing life are among his earliest memories and have always been more than a pastime. For many years he has described his art, prints and posters as a passion. "Painting defines me," he says from his home in Kirkland, Washington, where he lives with his wife, Sherri, and their two sons. "It's who I am, not just what I do." Bogle received his degree in art from Central Washington University and pursued graduate study at the University of Washington. His art, prints and posters are exhibited widely in galleries and museums throughout the country. With a growing number of avid collectors, his limited edition prints sell out soon after release. Collectors know him for his art, prints and posters of Native Americans, often solitary figures of women whose beauty far surpasses the superficial. Other works depict men and women, who appear as soulmates rather than mere romantic couples. While his paintings artistically speak for themselves, they also reflect his appreciation for the organic. Working with muted, atmospheric colors, he is a master at depicting the expressive quality of light.


text:
This young woman is standing at the edge of the ocean near Bentota, Sri Lanka, enjoying the sight and sound of the waves crashing on the beach.
This photo was taken on February 20, 2018.
Trading snow capped peaks for twin city streets
To See a World in a Grain of Sand...
Expressing Thought Through Photography
Photos of my world and other stuff I hope you will enjoy too. Photos taken with Canon PowershotSX70HS Photos can be purchased.
Best poetry. Best Poems
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A Photo Log
Street, Travel and Fashion Photography Exhibition dates 2018 coming soon
Photography by theonlydeadheadinthehameau
A Potpourri of my Ramblings, Poems and More…
Chasing Light ~ Telling Stories
Smart, fearless journalism
Giving and Receiving Blessings
Through Lynne's Lens
capturing memories one moment at a time
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A blog about photography and (if happens) travels. Photographer based in Portsmouth, UK. Mainly portraits, street and few landscape photography
Travel, Lifestyle & Photography
What happened to the global economy and what we can do about it
Written with its readers interests in mind.
Street | Urban | Travel | Photography by Marcus Puschmann
Doodles of a distracted historian
Sharing the ephemeral joy of the moment
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About life, fantasy, and everything in between
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WordPress & Blogging tips, flash fiction, photography and lots more!
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text: Catalog Auction info PLASTER AUCTION (#92213) 11/07/2017 7:00 PM CST CLOSED! Lot #171970 Corvette Stingray odometer reads 16,500 miles! - Matching Numbers - 350/327 # 194670S408710 Click image to enlarge PreviousNext Lot closed (12 bids) Ask a question PLASTER AUCTION (#92213) 11/07/2017 7:00 PM CST CLOSED! Description Custom stereo system with amps. Hurst Transmission, New Paint, White Convertible Top, All Original, Original Clover Jet, Power Steering, Very Reliable Terms and conditions All bidders agree to be bound by this bidder contract by placing a bid. PLEASE SCROLL & READ ALL TERMS LISTED BELOW, INCLUDING PREVIEW, PICKUP, and SHIPPING INFORMATION. * TERMS OF SALE: 10% Buyer Fee added to high bid at invoice. All items are being sold AS IS, WHERE IS, No Warranties or Guarantees of any kind.The auction company has provided documentation from the seller regarding the 1939 Packard, it is the sole responsibilty of the Buyer to verify such information as to the authenticity. No Returns, No Refunds. A paid invoice receipt from SOLDasap llc. is required prior to pickup and removal. Buyers assume all responsibility and hold Seller and Auctioneer harmless for introducing any item or part of item into the stream of commerce. Photographs and Descriptions are provided as a guide, and a guide only. Bidders to verify correctness of ANY advertised information to their satisfaction as to use for any particular purpose. Any bid placed by a Bidder is based solely upon the Bidders personal inspection and opinion. Failure to inspect the property does not relieve bidder of responsibility for payment and removal as stated in these terms. All bids are a binding contract according to these terms. Bidder acknowledges that once a bid is offered, the Bidder shall be bound by the bid amount. Bids cannot be withdrawn or retracted. Verify your information entered (bid amount) before submitting your bids. Auction Company may change bidders usernames or passwords at the sole discretion of the Auction company. Auction is subject to additions and or deletions prior to auction closing. * INVOICES & PAYMENT TERMS: All Invoices are due and payable upon receipt. Please be prepared to pay in the form of cash, a cashiers check, or direct wire the funds within one hour of the ending of the auction. Payment must be paid in full at end of auction. Cash or cashiers check will be accepted. No personal checks and no credit cards, no exceptions. Call our office for instructions if you wish do direct deposit into our escrow account. * EXTENDED BIDDING / DYNAMIC CLOSING: If a bid is entered within the last 3 minutes of the closing of an item, the closing time will be extended by ten minutes to ensure sufficient time for bidders to submit their bids. Extended Bidding will continue until no bids are placed within 3 minutes. * PREVIEW & INSPECTION: The Preview and Inspection Schedule is available, and can be found in the Auction Listing Tab on the Auction Page. Individuals previewing items are personally responsible for any breakage/damage to items they are handling and will be charged appraised value for item(s). All people previewing assume all responsibility for their own safety. Auctioneer & Seller are not responsible for accidents. * PICK UP TIME / REMOVAL: The Pickup Time / Removal Schedule is available, and can be found on the Auction Listing Tab on the Auction Page, and must be adhered to specifically. Any bid placed by a Bidder should be based on their ability to comply with the pickup schedule as listed. Buyers MUST pickup these items and provide any additional personnel or equipment required to move the item. IF YOU CANNOT PICK UP THE ITEM DURING THE SCHEDULED PICKUP TIME --- DO NOT BID! Buyer is responsible for providing the supplies, boxes, packing material, tools, equipment, etc. necessary, as well as the physical labor for dismantling, rigging, crating, loading and hauling at their own expense. ANY ITEM NOT PICKED UP WITHIN 10 DAYS WILL BE CONSIDERED ABANDONED. IF THE BUYER INVOICE IS NOT PAID, THE DEFAULTING BIDDERS ACCOUNT WILL BE CLOSED FOR ALL MARKNET ALLIANCE AUCTIONS. * SHIPPING AND DELIVERY: SHIPPING: Pick up by buyer only with paid receipt, shipping and all shipping related charges will be the responisbilty of the buyer * NOTICE TO BIDDERS AND BUYERS OF AUCTIONEER'S RIGHT TO REPOSSESS AND RECOVER DAMAGES: By placing any bid, each Bidder or Buyer - 1) understands that Auctioneer or Seller incurs actual damages by non-performing Bidders or Buyers. 2) understands that Auctioneer or Seller may repossess any property not paid for by midnight on the 5th day after auction ends, and may close the non-paying Bidder account. 3) understands that Auctioneer or Seller may repossess any property not picked up by the Buyer or his/her representative on the 10th day after auction ends regardless of invoice payment status. A Storage Fee equal to any payments, may be levied at midnight on the 10th day after auction ends. Defaulting Buyer account may be closed, and a black flag notification may be sent to the MarkNet Alliance removing registration access to all MarkNet websites. 4) understands that Auctioneer or Seller may request assistance from a third party to recover damages incurred as the result of a non-performing Bidder or Buyer. 5) ANY ITEM NOT PICKED UP WITHIN 10 DAYS WILL BE CONSIDERED ABANDONED. IF THE BUYER INVOICE IS PAID, WE WILL RESELL THE ITEM AND SEND THE DEFAULTING BUYER 50% OF THE HIGH BID ATTAINED AT THE SUBSEQUENT AUCTION. IF THE BUYER INVOICE IS NOT PAID, THE ITEM(S) WILL BE RESOLD AND THE DEFAULTING BIDDERS ACCOUNT WILL BE CLOSED FOR ALL MARKNET ALLIANCE AUCTIONS. Attention !! Please do not wait until the last minutes of the auction to register or call the auction company. Our office staff is typically extremely busy at this time, and we can not guarantee getting to your questions/concerns during that time frame. We highly suggest that you utilize the max bidding feature to ensure your bids are placed. We will not be responsible for last minute computer issues. Bid on Your OWN Schedule! Call 870.236.6117 for questions, bidding assistance!!


text:
The Nats have not sold out a game since opening day, but maybe they were targeting the wrong audience.
This Saturday marks the return of "Pups In the Park," a promotion the team began last year in which the Washington Nationals open the gates of Nationals Park to their furry fans.
While regular seats remain available for the 1:05pm game vs. the Florida Marlins, the Dog Tickets are apparently a complete sellout.
The special $5.00 Dog Tickets allow fans to sit with fido in the Left Field Mezzanine, sections 201 through 203 (human seats are still $20.00). The area will feature a sod grass section behind the stands for dogs who've had too much beer, and dog walkers from Fetch! Pet Care are on hand to let you visit the concessions yourself.
The first-ever "pup parade" is a new addition. Fans will be invited to walk their dogs around the warning track before the game, so Josh Willingham, please watch where you step in left field Saturday.
Dog Tickets are on sale now for the second Pups in the Park day, which will be Sunday, August 29.
UPDATE: A day after this post, the August 29 date sold out as well! Clearly the Nationals need to look into expanding their canine capacity for this popular event.
UPDATE #2: The Nats have added a section for the August 29 date, so tickets are available again!


text:
Has anyone any experience of this. How long does the surgery take and how long does your dog remain at hospital. My dog has lost her ability to blink has had a myryngiotomy and not improved. Neuro says need MRI but suspects she needs a bulla to remove puss from middle ear that could not be got at or was too solid to remove when flushed out. Very nervous of this help please
We just got back from the ophthalmologist. I need to get into the office but wanted to give everyone an update. Lucky has Horner's Syndrome. It is caused by a disruption in the nerve pathway close to the ear that controls a bunch of things eye related, tear production being one of them. Currently the cause is idiopathic, but we will probably consult a neurologist as SM or PSOM could potentially be issues causing this. We do have new drops that should help it it heal within 4 months, but the
Breaking news! After far too long, my baby, my Lucy, is living with me again. Awhile ago, I was forced to move out of where I lived for health reasons, and to my utter dismay, the only place I could find would not allow me to have Lucy with me. So, she got to live with my parents and their Corgi while I moved into an environment that, while healhier physically, left me apart from my baby.
Needless to say, after much too long, she's living with me again! I'm thrilled to have her back.
Hi everyone, one of my boys has CM/SM diagnosed by MRI, he is on meds for this, he is walked on a harness, we have raised his water bowl and food bowl, he seems quite comfortable at the moment, I am keeping a atmospheric pressure chart for him to see how the weather changes affect him. Just wondered if anybody else has any useful tips on keeping him comfortable.
I have a 6 month old male cavalier. I feed him dry kibble, Blue Menu, puppy grain free and also canned, same kind. I was thinking of switching to prepared raw diet. The reason is he always seems itchy!
What is everyone's opinion on raw, not sure yet if I'm sold on raw. Thanks in advance.


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Personally, I love playing with my food, don't you?
Take mashed potatoes, steamed green beans, chickpeas and mushroom gravy and have some fun!
The pictures with the mushroom gravy were just too reminiscent of mud slides and natural catastrophes devastating forests, so I'm censuring those.
This is one of our favourite ways to eat mashed potatoes around the holiday season. To be honest, the humble spud doesn't make it to our dinner table too often, finding itself relegated to "special requests" by Guppy. Other choice veggies/decorations are of course cherry tomatoes, peas, olives, corn, diced red or green pepper, red onion, etc. Steamed broccoli makes lovely surrounding shrubbery, and there have been steamed cauliflower clouds in the skies as well. Hot sauce (for the big kids) or ketchup could be used for garlands, too. I set out the "ornaments" in little bowls and everyone decorates their own.
Very fun stuff, kids. Tasty, too.


text:
Download the Yearly Vanuatu Calendar 4651 with all Vanuatu Holidays. Vanuatu Printable Calendar 4651 Consist of all National/ Public/ School Holidays of the Vanuatu for the year 4651. Only Popular Calendar lists are available here else if you want to check all the Detailed 4651 Holidays of Vanuatu, then you can visit our separate page for Holidays 4651 of Vanuatu. Online 4651 Calendar Printable with Vanuatu Holidays. You can either download or print these calendars accordingly. We have provided 4651 Vanuatu Holiday Calendar with State & National Holidays mainly.
If you are looking for 4651 Vanuatu Calendar PDF Format, then you can just save this Vanuatu calendar in Pdf file or if you want to print this Vanuatu 4651 calendar, just click on "Print" option to get the printed version of Vanuatu the calendar.


text:
A black teenager in New York City hopes to win her freedom by exposing a plot to kill George Washington
Chains (Seeds of America Series). By Laurie Halse Anderson, 316 pp., $16.99. Ages 10 and up.
By Janice Harayda
On the eve of the American Revolution, thousands of slaves lived in New York City. In Chains Laurie Halse Anderson tells the story of a fictional 13-year-old owned by a cruel Loyalist couple with a regal townhouse on Wall Street in 1776.
Isabel Finch learns of a plot to kill George Washington as she serves wine and cheese on a silver platter to the Locktons' Tory friends, and she later sneaks away to warn Continental Army soldiers of the danger to their commander. She hopes her spying will persuade the Patriots to free her and her 5-year-old sister, Ruth, also owned by the Locktons. The soldiers have more urgent concerns after the British invade New York, and without reliable allies on either side, Isabel forms a dangerous plan to win her freedom on her own.
This well-written and beautifully designed young adult novel brims with interesting period details that serve a worthy theme: What is freedom? Why did white colonists, as they fought for independence, tolerate the enslavement of blacks?
Chains also has action so fast-paced — and at times over-the-top — that it borders on soap opera. Isabel joins the Locktons after her former owner breaks a promise to free her and her sister. She is beaten, thrown into a dungeon, hauled before a judge, put in stocks, and branded on the face with an I (for "Insolence") after she tries to flee. She sees a hanging, the great fire of 1776, and dead bodies stacked at a prison that houses her friend Curzon, a former slave. She hears of a throat-slashing, a bayonet execution, and other atrocities.
Laurie Halse Anderson recounts all of this with an evenness of tone that robs her tale of some of its impact. Telling her story in her own voice, Isabel speaks matter-of-factly, whether she is describing her owners' evil deeds or a rare joy such as the news that Curzon has survived a battle. Each new trauma gets the same emotional weight, a trait that places the book closer to high-quality genre fiction or a good newspaper story of long-ago events than to art. Chains describes Dickensian horrors without the Dickensian pathos. You follow Isabel's story raptly, but you don't feel nearly as much for her as you should.
Best line: Among the many good period details: "Madam opened an envelope and shock out two gray strips of mouse fur, each cut into an arch. Leaning toward the mirror, she glued the mouse fur onto her own eyebrows, making them bushy and think as fashion required."
Worst line: "My bones were hollow sticks; my brainpan empty." "My bones were hollow and my brainpan empty." This repetition of a nearly identical line on back-to-back pages suggests a either a cutting-and-pasting oversight or that Halse Anderson couldn't decide where to put or how to punctuate the line.
Newbery/Caldecott assessment: It will be interesting to see what the Newbery judges do with this one. Chains was a finalist for the 2008 National Book Award for Young People's Literature www.nationalbook.org/nba2008.html. So it should get serious attention from the Newbery judges. But it has so much violence that, although none of it is inappropriate in context, you wonder if the judges might consider it instead for the Michael Printz Award, given to a book for older readers.
Published: October 2008. Chains is the first book in a series about Isabel that will continue with Forge.
If you like historical novels about independent girls, you might also like: A Drowned Maiden's Hair by Laura Amy Schlitz www.oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/2007/03/10/. Schlitz won the 2008 Newbery Medal for her book of monologues and dialogues Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!: Voices From a Medieval Village. A review of and reading group guide to the book appeared separate in separate posts on One-Minute Book Reviews on Jan. 26,2008 www.oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/2008/01/26/.
For more on the Revolutionary War era: Jean Fritz has written an excellent series of illustrated books about the American Revolution for 9-to-12-year-olds that includes Can't You Make Them Behave, King George (Putnam,1996) and Will You Sign Here, John Hancock? (Putnam, 1997). Books by Fritz www.cbcbooks.org/cbcmagazine/meet/jeanfritz.html are available in many libraries and in stock at online bookstores and many others.
Furthermore: Laurie Halse Anderson wrote Thank You, Sarah: The Woman Who Saved Thanksgiving and other books www.writerlady.com. She lives in Mexico, New York.
Other posts in the "Countdown to the 2009 Caldecott and Newbery Awards" appeared on May 10, 2008 (Pale Male) www.oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/2008/05/10/ and Nov. 22 (Zen Ties) www.oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/2008/11/22/.
Janice Harayda is a former judge for the National Book Critics Circle Awards. She has reviewed children's books for more than a decade.
© 2008 Janice Harayda. All rights reserved.


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No. 7 Florida handles No. 25 Kentucky, 69-52
GAINESVILLE —If there were any questions about Florida's status in the Southeastern Conference following a loss at Arkansas last week, the Gators put those to rest Tuesday night.
With another lopsided win in league play.
And against defending national champion Kentucky, which had freshman star Nerlens Noel go down with a knee injury.
Scottie Wilbekin had 14 points and eight assists, Pat Young recorded his sixth double-double of the season and No. 7 Florida handled the 25th-ranked Wildcats 69-52.
The Gators (20-3, 10-1 SEC) snapped a five-game losing streak in the series and improved to 12-0 at home.
This one solidified Florida's spot atop the SEC.
"They're an outstanding basketball team," Kentucky coach John Calipari said. "They were last year, they are this year. They're well coached, they're talented, they're very physical. Their guards are just jerking balls out of our guys' hands. We couldn't get near the basket on Young. He just physically took away the rim. And they're very active."
The Wildcats (17-7, 8-3) lost for the first time in six games, and it may have been costly.
Noel, the nation's leading shot-blocker, injured his left knee in the second half and was taken to a campus hospital for tests.
Noel, a forward who averages 10.6 points, 9.6 rebounds and 4.5 blocks a game, landed awkwardly on his leg with about 8 minutes to play. He screamed in pain as trainers rushed to his side. Teammates carried him to the locker room. After the game, trainers pushed him through the halls of the O'Connell Center in a wheelchair and with his left leg in a brace.
"I'm physically sick right now for him," Calipari said. "What I'm hoping is it's not the extreme. I'm hoping it's some sort of twist, but we don't know."
Florida had a comfortable lead before the injury.
The Gators opened a double-digit lead, 31-19, in the first half on consecutive 3-pointers by Wilbekin, Mike Rosario and Kenny Boynton — backbreaking shots that frustrated Calipari and had his players looking dazed and confused.
Florida extended it to 16 points on Rosario's layup. It was the biggest deficit the Wildcats had faced all season.
And they did little to erase it.
Young and fellow big man Erik Murphy, who was in early foul trouble, carried the load in the second half.
Young made a basket with a nifty, up-and-under move, had a reverse layup and added a sweet, left-handed hook. He finished with 12 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks.
"When he gives incredible effort and plays with a really good motor, he's capable of getting double-doubles every night," said Florida coach Billy Donovan, who improved to 2-7 against Calipari. "He rebounded. He made great effort plays, kept balls alive. He did a really good job."
Murphy drained a 3-pointer after taking a charge on the other end. He also had three blocks.
The Gators needed big games from Young and Murphy considering they played a second game without forward Will Yeguete and were undersized against the Wildcats.
Nonetheless, the difference was guard play.
Wilbekin sliced through the lane at will, creating open shots for teammates and getting Kentucky's players out of position. Noel, Archie Goodwin and Willie Cauley-Stein spent time on the bench in foul trouble.
"I really thought he played an all-around, very, very good game," Donovan said of Wilbekin, who was benched to start Saturday's win against Mississippi State.
Fellow guard Rosario finished with 12 points for Florida, which has won every conference game by double digits. Murphy chipped in 10 points, and Casey Prather added 12 points and two blocks and took several charges, proving again to be a capable replacement for Yeguete.
Cauley-Stein and Julius Mays led Kentucky with 10 points apiece.
The Wildcats shot 42 percent from the field and had 17 turnovers.
"We just played soft, scared, uptight," Mays said. "We let the pressure get to us. Usually, we're really good with the press. I don't know what it was today, but we just weren't tough enough."
Calipari warned reporters Monday that beating Florida would be a difficult task, especially since the Gators have played so well at home and have a much more experienced roster.
The most significant disparities came in the paint and off turnovers. The Gators scored 36 points in the paint and 20 points off turnovers; the Wildcats had 26 points down low and just five off Florida's 11 turnovers.
Afterward, though, all the talk was about Noel's injury.
"I don't know what ended up happening, but it was clear from him moaning in pain that he was struggling," Donovan said. "I admire the way he plays and I admire his energy. I don't know how badly he's hurt, but the energy came from a hustle play. It kind of embodies who he is as a player. He's a hustle-play guy, and you just feel sad if there's any kind of length or duration that he's out because everybody admires in this league, coaches-wise, how he plays the game."


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If you've ever forgotten an important password, Facebook has an innovative solution for you. On Thursday, engineers with the social network rolled out a new(ish) feature that helps users regain control of an account after being locked out of it.
The concept behind Trusted Contacts is the same idea behind giving a trusted friend or neighbor a copy of your house key. If you lose yours, you can always count of one of them to help you get back inside. The Facebook feature actually requires the help of multiple separate trusted friends designated in advance. If a user forgets her password or is otherwise locked out of an account, she can request that Facebook send different one-time security codes to up to five friends. Once the user supplies three of the security codes sent, Facebook will reset the account password.
"So your trusted contacts can be sure it's you trying to access your account, it's best to talk to them over the phone or in person," a Facebook blog post published Thursday advises. "Someone else can impersonate you through e-mail, chat, or text messages, or hack and read your messages."
Trusted Contacts, which engineers started testing in October, is one of several features rolled out in the past couple years to better protect Facebook users. In 2011, the company introduced limited two-factor authentication. It has also deployed systems to block spam and phishing messages and to detect fraudulent "likes," the endorsements Facebook users give to blog posts, businesses, and individuals.
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'Hunger Games' salute used as protest in Thailand
BANGKOK -- The three-finger salute from the Hollywood movie "The Hunger Games" is being used as a real symbol of resistance in Thailand. Protesters against the military coup are flashing the gesture as a silent act of rebellion, and they're being threatened with arrest if they ignore warnings to stop.
Thailand's military rulers say they were monitoring the new form of opposition to the coup. Reporters witnessed the phenomenon and individuals were captured on film making the raised-arm salute.
"Raising three fingers has become a symbol in calling for fundamental political rights," said anti-coup activist Sombat Boonngam-anong on his Facebook page. He called on people to raise "3 fingers, 3 times a day" -- at 9 a.m., 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. -- in safe public places where no police or military are present.
The gesture emerged over the weekend as protesters joined small flash mobs, or stood alone, flashing three fingers in the air.
"We know it comes from the movie, and let's say it represents resistance against the authorities," Col. Weerachon Sukhondhapatipak, a spokesman for the junta, told The Associated Press.
"If a single individual raises three fingers in the air, we are not going to arrest him or her," he said. "But if it is a political gathering of five people or more, then we will have to take some action."
"If it persists, then we will have to make an arrest," he said.
In "The Hunger Games" movie series and book trilogy, the salute symbolizes rebellion against totalitarian rule, signifying thanks, admiration and goodbye to a loved one. But Thai protesters gave varying explanations. Some cited the French Revolution's trinity of values: liberty, equality, fraternity. Others said it means freedom, election and democracy.
A photo montage circulating online paired a picture from "The Hunger Games" with a graphic of three fingers labeled, 1. No Coup, 2. Liberty, 3. Democracy.
While the strife-imitating-art nature of the phenomenon is extraordinary, it's not unprecedented. Other examples of pop culture symbols being used to express political sentiments include Occupy protesters wearing the Guy Fawkes mask from the "V for Vendetta" movie. The practice of tying a yellow ribbon as a symbol of support for hostages, missing soldiers or prisoners was popularized in part by the song "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree" that topped the charts in 1973.
"The Hunger Games" films have been popular in Thailand, but not unusually so. The last film, "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" made $3.3 million last year, which ranked eighth among 2013 releases. The 2012 film "The Hunger Games" made $2.1 million, ranking 17th that year.
A spokesman for the film distributor Lionsgate said the company was aware of the Thai protest but had no comment.
Human Rights Watch's Asia director Brad Adams decried the junta's threat against the peaceful salute, saying the "Thai military's assault on basic human rights has apparently grown to not only target peaceful protesters, but now also silent ones as well -- since now just holding up an arm with a three-finger salute is enough to earn the junta's ire."
AP Film Writer Jake Coyle contributed from New York.


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Florida's Sharrif Floyd adopted by family that gave him benefits
- Adoption of Florida defensive star Sharrif Floyd seen as potential loophole
- Pennsylvania businessman Kevin Lahn mentored Floyd before adopting him, calls it "a natural fit"
- Floyd gets car, apartment and birthday trip to Miami with teammates
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- The case played out like many other NCAA violations.
College sports' governing body found a prominent football player at a Southeastern Conference school had accepted impermissible benefits. He was suspended and forced to repay the money. What came next, though, was unprecedented and could be a loophole used in the future to provide benefits for elite athletes.
After his suspension, Florida defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd was adopted, at age 20, by the man who provided those benefits.
Floyd, a junior for the seventh-ranked Gators and a possible first-round pick in the NFL draft, now receives far more from his adoptive father, Kevin Lahn, than he was punished for taking last year. Under NCAA rules, there are virtually no limits to what a parent can provide to an athlete but a slew of restrictions on what a player can receive from anyone else.
"(The adoption) was not something we planned, but it's been a natural fit," Lahn said in an e-mail to USA TODAY Sports.
Floyd declined comment through a Florida spokesman. But Lahn, who was dissociated from his alma mater, South Carolina, by the school in September 2011 as part of a major NCAA infractions case, says the adoption was a reflection of the feelings he and his wife, Tiffany, have for Floyd, and not a reaction to the NCAA suspension.
"My wife and I love Sharrif and he feels the same way about us," Lahn says.
Says Steve Gordon, a close friend of Floyd and Lahn: "There was no ulterior motive on either part. It was just that they bonded really well. (Adoption is) a huge load. You can't do it for an ulterior motive."
But Gordon also acknowledges Lahn's frustration over Floyd being suspended. "(Lahn) doesn't like to be told no, and it isn't that he's doing anything wrong," Gordon says. "He's doing what's in the best interest of that kid."
Floyd's case has some similarities to that of former Mississippi offensive lineman Michael Oher, whose story was told in Michael Lewis' book The Blind Side and movie of the same name. The Memphis native became an All-American at the alma mater of Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy, a couple who took in Oher, enrolled him in a private school that their biological children attended and helped him to get eligible for college.
The NCAA reviewed his case because the Tuohys are Mississippi boosters and found no violations. The Tuohys later adopted Oher, a 2009 first-round draft pick by the Baltimore Ravens.
That the NCAA questioned Oher about his situation illustrates the loophole in Floyd's case. While NCAA rules experts caution that it's unlikely for this situation to become a widespread problem because of the commitment adoption requires, it does leave the association vulnerable to unscrupulous boosters, agents or other third parties who could skirt the rules.
John Infante, a former assistant compliance director at Colorado State and Loyola Marymount and author of the Bylaw Blog, says the NCAA likely wouldn't want to get involved in assessing the legitimacy of adoptions and trying to determine whether they have been done to formalize an existing relationship or to find a way around the rules to provide benefits.
"It's between a rock and a hard place, because, on one hand, you let this go, if you're saying this is the one thing we're not going to touch — parents and legal guardians — well then you've established a way around the rules where AAU coaches, runners, agents, boosters just adopt kids and start providing for them," he says. "You can basically do whatever you want."
NCAA spokeswoman Stacey Osburn says examinations are made on a case-by-case basis. "If a student-athlete is adopted, from that point forward the individual would be treated as any other parent," Osburn said in an e-mail.
Post-adoption benefits
Becoming the Lahns' son meant Floyd, who grew up in a broken and poor family, would be provided for better than he had been at any other time in his life.
Lahn, a vice president of a commercial real estate company, leased an apartment and a vehicle — a 2012 Ford Explorer XLT — for Floyd shortly after the adoption in December, according to Lahn and documents obtained by USA TODAY Sports. The couple gave Floyd a credit card, which he uses mostly for food, and took him on a trip to Disney World, Gordon says.
Floyd has a room in the Lahns' 6,500-square-foot home on a golf course in Kennett Square, Pa., 35 miles west of Philadelphia. And for his 21st birthday in May, he met them in Miami for a trip that coincided with the couple's fifth wedding anniversary, Lahn says. That included a stay at the Mandarin Oriental, a luxury hotel, and a trip on the Jody Lee, a chartered, $3 million, 80-foot yacht, according to photos and updates on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by Tiffany Lahn and others.
Posts to social media from a current teammate and former teammate of Floyd show he was joined by three other football players. Florida defensive linemen Ronald Powell and Dominique Easley were photographed with Western Kentucky safety Jonathan Dowling and Floyd in front of the yacht. Easley posted five photos to Instagram and Twitter along with photos of Floyd and Dowling in the Mandarin Oriental. Dowling also tweeted about the trip.
Dowling was kicked off the team at Florida for a violation of team rules in November 2010, when he was a freshman. He has remained friends with Floyd and Easley, who he says were his roommates at UF.
Although he is seen in photos posted by Easley, Dowling last month said: "I don't know nothing about that. I seen them a weekend, that weekend. I can't remember if they said they were going to Miami or something."
Easley and Powell declined comment through a Florida spokesman.
More than 50 tweets that weekend from Dowling and Easley include photos and references to a steak-and-lobster dinner and spending at least a day on the yacht. Nearly three dozen photos Dowling posted have been deleted from his Twitter and Instagram accounts.
Florida senior associate athletics director Jamie McCloskey says Powell and Easley "were already in South Florida. They joined Sharrif and his family for an evening."
When asked by e-mail who paid for Floyd's teammates to be on the trip, Lahn replied: "Sharrif drove down by himself. Sharrif's friends came down in their car to Miami for the Hip Hop Festival in Miami that weekend. Sharrif stayed in the hotel room I paid for."
Pam Herriford, associate athletic director in charge of compliance at Western Kentucky, says she was unaware Dowling was on the trip. "We'll obviously look into and see what we find out," she says.
Lahn says he paid to charter the yacht as a surprise for his wife and Floyd. He added that he initially planned a bigger party on a larger boat for several of Floyd's teammates to celebrate his birthday.
"(I) ran it past Florida's compliance office and they told me that it was not a good idea to do so, so I scaled back the size of the boat and party and limited it to just family and friends," Lahn says.
According to NCAA bylaw 184.108.40.206, athletes and their family and friends can receive benefits as long as they are generally available to other students at the school and their family and friends. Generally, athletes would be allowed to receive benefits from the parent of a friend.
If Lahn paid for the other players on the trip, it could be a violation under bylaw 18.104.22.168 if Lahn is considered a representative of Florida's athletic interests. McCloskey says Lahn has not been given that distinction and declined to say whether the school has checked with the NCAA.
Whether that is reviewed could come down to a reasonableness test of sorts, says Infante and Nebraska law professor Jo Potuto, who served on the NCAA Committee on Infractions for nine years.
"The more it seems out of line with what you would expect parents of college kids to do, the more questions are going to be asked about it," Potuto says.
Pair's foundation linked to S.C. case
Floyd's relationship with Lahn came under scrutiny in 2011 after Floyd told Florida officials he'd accepted financial assistance from Lahn, who was also being investigated for benefits he provided to athletes at South Carolina and recruits.
They met in summer of 2009 through the Student Athlete Mentoring (S.A.M.) Foundation, a Delaware-based non-profit group whose stated mission is to help high school athletes with SAT and ACT preparation and organize visits to colleges and camps. Floyd, a Philadelphia native, was one of the first athletes mentored by Gordon before he started the foundation. Lahn was the foundation's treasurer.
According to Gordon, the foundation's president, Lahn assisted Floyd with living expenses when he came to Florida. For accepting $2,500 and other benefits, Floyd was suspended for games against Florida Atlantic and Alabama at Birmingham and forced to pay $2,700 to a charity of his choice.
After the decision in Floyd's case, Florida coach Will Muschamp defended the defensive tackle in statements that were critical of the NCAA.
"In my opinion, Sharrif is getting lumped into what is bad about college athletics," Muschamp said. "Sharrif is what is good about college athletics — his life is about survival, struggle, disappointment and adversity.
"The NCAA stated that he received preferential treatment; there is nothing preferential about his life."
In the 10 days after the NCAA's decision in Floyd's case, South Carolina dissociated Lahn and Gordon — also a South Carolina alum. The NCAA infractions report released in April said they made impermissible inducements to recruits from spring 2009 through February 2011 through the foundation and provided extra benefits to members of the Gamecocks men's and women's track and field teams in June 2010.
It was part of a larger NCAA investigation at South Carolina that resulted in a three-year probation, reduction in scholarships and a limit on official visits in football and track and field, among other sanctions.
Lahn was considered by the NCAA to be a representative of South Carolina's athletic interests because he donated more than $190,000 in his lifetime to the university, according to the infractions report. He was a former president of the Carolina Alumni Club of Philadelphia, a football season ticketholder and a member of the Gamecock Club.
Lahn, 50, says he met Floyd as a teenager attending George Washington High in Philadelphia. Lahn says he attended several of Floyd's games and Floyd would come to his house for S.A.M. parties. After Floyd went to college, he would stay with the Lahns on breaks and holidays. Like many other players involved in the foundation, Floyd found it easy to talk to Lahn, according to Gordon. Ron Cohen, Floyd's high school coach, describes Lahn as a "good-hearted person."
Lahn says he looked into adopting Floyd after his suspension in September and that it was completed Dec. 19. Pennsylvania adoption records are sealed, although several people close to the family and Florida confirmed that it took place.
Lucille Ryans, Floyd's great grandmother, declined to comment when contacted by USA TODAY Sports. Efforts to locate Floyd's mother, Tonya Scott, were unsuccessful.
"We made sure that his great grandmother was on board and she indicated to us she was," Lahn says. "We also notified the University of Florida compliance and coaching staff."
Under Pennsylvania law, Floyd could be adopted by the Lahns without the consent from his mother or great grandmother because he was older than 18. In some states, such as Florida, adults may still be adopted without consent but must first notify their biological families.
Floyd's sometimes tumultuous upbringing included being raised in part by his great grandmother, moving several times in high school and not knowing his father, who died when Floyd was young. By his own accounts, he lived in a neighborhood where selling drugs was common.
"Basically, the NCAA was telling Kevin for the next three years he could no longer be a part of Sharrif's life," Gordon says. "At that point, it was like taking your son away from you and saying he can't be your son for three years, you can rekindle the friendship or the father-son relationship after that. And Kevin said, 'No, that's not acceptable.' "
Lahns now guardian of Nigerian
Sitting on the shelf in the dining room of Gordon's New Jersey home is a photo of Floyd on the day of his adoption. In front of the bench in the courtroom, the 6-3, 303-pound tackle dwarfs Tiffany standing under his right arm and Kevin under his left. They're all smiling.
Though the path the Lahns have taken could provide a blueprint for boosters or agents looking to get around NCAA rules, those interviewed who know him paint a picture of Lahn as a kind man who has taken joy in helping the athletes involved in the foundation.
"He has no need for notoriety," Gordon says. " His only thing is to make sure that Sharrif gets through all this."
The Lahns have also taken legal responsibility for another athlete they met through the foundation. They are the legal guardians for Hendrix Emu, a 20-year-old Nigerian basketball player who Lahn and Gordon say has political asylum in the United States.
Neither the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services nor the Nigerian consulate could provide confirmation of Emu's status because those records are sealed.
According to Lahn, Emu fled Nigeria in 2003 with his family because of the dangers they faced there. After settling in England, Emu came to the USA in 2008 to attend high school with the goal of playing Division I basketball but found himself homeless before the foundation intervened.
"His father was in prison and his mother and sisters were living in England with no one to provide for them," Lahn says. "After his mother saw how I actually helped Hendrix while others (in the USA) tried to use him, his mother gave me legal guardianship."
Emu declined an interview request from USA TODAY Sports through an athletic department spokesman at Seward (Kan.) County Community College, for which he plays basketball.
Scott Willard, coach at the Miller School in Charlottesville, Va., had Emu on his team for a year as school officials helped him sort out his transcripts after stops at several schools.
"When Kevin got involved, he just did it to help the kid," Willard says. "He was the best thing to happen to Hendrix, Kevin was. There's no doubt. He was just trying to help a kid out of a really, really brutal situation."
Lahn says his non-traditional family was born of circumstance. He and Tiffany, 36, have full-time jobs and enjoy traveling so they have not started a family of their own.
"It is also difficult to bring new kids into this world when you have perfectly good kids like Sharrif and Hendrix who had such tough lives growing up," Lahn says. "The boys have someone to lean on for counseling, guidance and support, and Tiffany and I have the opportunity to enrich our lives by being parents, helping them with their classwork, following their games in person and on TV and looking forward to someday being grandparents.
"None of my family members are good athletes, me included," Lahn continues, "so with my genes I would never have the opportunity to give birth to kids who play football or basketball in college at such a high level. Sharrif and Hendrix have given me that opportunity."
Judging intentions of heart, wallet
Sonny Vaccaro says he sees the potential for wealthy boosters, agents or AAU coaches to use adoptions to skirt NCAA rules . He spent 30-plus years as a shoe marketing executive and making the summer basketball circuit what it is today, time that showed him the lengths people will go to in order to beat the NCAA.
"It is a loophole because you can't define what's in a person's heart," he says, "and they could argue, 'We love this child.' OK, but it is a loophole."
Donald Cofsky says he can recall 10-12 adult adoption cases among more than the 1,500 he has handled in his 25-plus years as an adoption attorney in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Most frequently, they're done to formalize a long-standing relationship.
But Cofsky, president-elect of the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys, warns against making assumptions in Floyd's adoption.
"The court found it legit and did it," Cofsky says. "If on the other hand there's a football program and you see that five of the guys who are going there are suddenly getting adopted by some local families or alumni, that'd raise some eyebrows."
Making a judgment in a case such as Floyd's isn't one the NCAA might want to get into. Ultimately, NCAA experts agree that it's unlikely the NCAA would try to discern the motivations for adoptions.
"I think you're almost in a null set," Potuto says of the potential for abuse in college athletics. "That doesn't mean there aren't boosters in cases who would do anything for a program. But this seems to be really on the outer limit of what a booster who's really invested in a program would be willing to do just to be able to do something that NCAA rules say he can't do."
Potuto and Infante say the NCAA is unlikely to add to its lengthy rule book given that the potential impact is minimal. But signaling to would-be rule breakers that adoption serves as a "Get Out of Jail Free" card isn't in the NCAA's best interest, Infante says.
"I see the potential for something that could be abused," he says. "I don't think you're gonna go see the top 20 basketball players and top 100 football players all of the sudden get adopted by boosters, agents, AAU coaches, somebody else wanting to profit off of them.
"I'm sure in a lot of cases the line between who is doing it to make a buck and who is doing it to get a kid at a certain school and then who's doing it because they've got a relationship with the kid, I think it's rarely truly one or the other."
George reported from Fort Lauderdale, Kennett Square, Pa., Miami, Mount Holly, N.J., Philadelphia, Wilmington, Del.
Contributing: Steve Berkowitz, Eric Prisbell, Brent Schrotenboer


text:
ORLANDO, Fla. — Tiger Woods is going to have to wait one more day to try to reclaim No. 1 in the world.
Moments after Woods made a 10-foot birdie putt on the second hole, a vicious thunderstorm packing gusts that topped out at 62 mph interrupted the final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational and wiped out play until Monday.
The storm dumped nearly 1½ inches on Bay Hill and formed small ponds in the fairways — there was even a fish in the middle of the 18th fairway. The wind toppled the TV tower behind the 10th green, which was a pile of metal poles, wood, mesh netting and had a stationary camera in the middle of it all.
About an hour after a tornado warning expired, officials said they would need time to clean up the course and let it drain. The final round was to resume at 10 a.m. Monday.
Woods is going after his eighth win at Bay Hill, which would return him to No. 1 in the world ranking for the first time since the last week of October in 2010.
He hit all of six shots on Sunday, enough to build a three-shot lead over Rickie Fowler, Keegan Bradley, John Huh and Ken Duke.
"At least we got a little activity in today, so we're not completely stagnant," Woods said before leaving. "We've dealt with this before."
There was plenty of action on a short day, none more bizarre than Sergio Garcia.
The Spaniard's tee shot on the 10th hole somehow came to rest about 15 feet up in an oak tree, sitting between two large branches. Garcia used a cart to jump into the tree, and after a few minutes, hit a one-handed, back-handed shot back to the fairway, before jumping some 8 feet back to the ground.
William McGirt was playing his shot from the fairway bunker on the other side and had no idea what Garcia was doing.
"I knew they were looking around the tree," he said. "I didn't know they were looking in the tree. I looked over and Sergio is up in the air, and I'm trying to figure out what in the hell he's going to go. He called for a club. He's hugging the tree. And the ball comes flying out.
"Are you kidding me?"
Two holes later, the horn sounded. McGirt said Garcia handed him the scorecard and said, "I'm out of here." Garcia earlier had taken a 9 on the par-5 sixth hole.
Billy Horschel hit three tee shots in to the water on the sixth hole and made an 11.
Attribute that to the wind, which was gusting hard when the leaders teed off.
Mark Russell, the tour's vice president of competition, said officials discussed whether to play early Sunday from two tees to try to beat the storms. He said NBC Sports was involved in the discussions — Woods going for the win, with Fowler at his side is sure to boost ratings — and they rolled the dice.
"If we played early, it was going to be a tape-delay situation. People were going to know who won before it came on television, so it defeats our television partners," he said. "They wanted to take a chance. They've been involved in several situations where we played early and it didn't rain. It was just unfortunate."
This marks the third time this year on the PGA Tour that a tournament finished one day later because of weather.
Woods won at Torrey Pines on a Monday when the Farmers Insurance Open lost a day to fog in San Diego. The Tournament of Championship at Kapalua didn't start until Monday because of unusually high wind, and the 54-hole event was completed some 29 hours after the opening tee shot. Dustin Johnson won on a Tuesday.
It will be the third Monday finish in the 35-year history of this tournament.
The storm lasted about two hours, enough time to do plenty of damage. Tournament director Scott Wellington said his staff was just starting a full inspection.
"We had some TV cameras go down," Wellington said. "We had some fencing and so forth. All of the big structures to my knowledge — I have not been out there yet — are OK. But we want to make sure they're sound before we put people in them. We have some other structures, smaller structures, tents and so forth that did come down."
Lawn chairs were toppled along the 18th fairway, where fans had been anticipating a big finish with Woods in the lead. Two chairs had blown into a bunker on the 14th, and seedlings from oak trees were scattered across several greens. Bunkers were washed out.
An osprey snagged a fish along the 18th and couldn't hold on. A fan ran across the fairway to get the fish out of the rough, and then dove headfirst across the 4-inch deep puddle in the fairway, dropping the fish. It swam for about 3 feet before going motionless.
Russell said that while storms were in the forecast for Sunday afternoon, tournament and TV executives thought there was a chance it would go north and south. Instead, it took a direct hit on Bay Hill.
"This thing was moving fast, and if we got shut down for an hour, hour-and-a-half, we could still finish," Russell said. "We wouldn't have a problem there. But we got the very worst of it."
And so the wait continues for Woods, who is going after his third win this year. Along with trying to reclaim No. 1 from Rory McIlroy, he can tie a PGA Tour record by winning Bay Hill for the eighth time. Sam Snead won the Greater Greensboro Open eight times.
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